Wednesday, January 18, 2012

With the ‘beak trimming’ of hens, the tip of the beak is cut or burned off with no pain medication causing trauma to the animal. Because the nerves of the beak are directly connected to the head and face of the chicken, the bird suffers severely. The poultry industry believes that because this pain is temporary, it is justifiable. However, this cruel and torturous treatment of chickens must be stopped.

Exotic and endangered mammals are being killed in captivity by hunters for entertainment and trophy purposes. They are drawn to familiar feeding areas and sometimes even tranquilized to ensure an easy kill. This unfair and inhumane type of hunting must be banned.

Every year, the ‘deadliest horse race in the world’ requires horses to leap off a 210-foot near cliff into a river. Twenty two horses have been killed in this brutal race so far. We must end this unethical competition now before another innocent horse is killed.

Circus elephants are subjected to cruel training and constant confinement, being held captive and forced to perform stressful acts, with most of the creatures facing whips, sticks, and bull-hooks. These poor animals need to be freed from the stage and replaced with animal-free circuses.Remove Remaining Animals from Abusive Hospice

Animal cruelty charges have rightfully been filed against Susan Marino, the director of an animal hospice that housed terminally-ill animals in New York. Marino grossly neglected elderly and ailing animals, resulting in hundreds of slow deaths. Cruelty charges are not enough in this heinous act. The surviving animals found among the dead must be removed, and the hospice must be shut down permanently.

The pharmaceutical drug Premarin is obtained in a horrible and inhuman fashion from horses. The product requires the cruel treatment of mares kept perpetually pregnant while trapped in a tiny stall while their urine is harvested. This cruel and unusual treatment of innocent horses must be stopped.Stop The Slaughter of Stray Animals in Singapore

Singapore has begun rounding up stray cats and dogs around the city and killing them. This practice is overkill to a problem that could be more humanely addressed. Join the citizens of Singapore in calling for a more ethical population control method for these stray cats and dogs. They do not deserve to die.

Each year, in Taiji, Japan, as many as 20,000 dolphins are inhumanely killed in the single largest dolphin slaughter in the world. They are sold as food, despite the fact that dolphin meat contains dangerously high levels of mercury. But more abhorrent is the fact that thousands of innocent dolphins are brutally slaughtered. Tell the Japanese government to stop this senseless and cruel killing of this intelligent and beloved creature.

Testing on chimps includes tubes being forced down their throats for experimental drugs to be pumped into their stomachs, infant monkeys being ripped away from their mothers in order to record the psychological trauma done to these social animals when left alone at a young age, holes drilled into their skulls for electrodes to be placed on their brains, and many other disgusting ‘tests.’ We must demand that lab testing on chimpanzees be stopped once and for all.

Bears in Vietnam are being imprisoned in order to ‘milk’ their bile, which is believed to provide medical benefits by the locals. The process of bile extraction from bears is horrific. Bears are trapped in cages so small that they cannot move a muscle, and catheters are shoved into them remorselessly each day. After they mature past bile producing age, they are left for dead or brutally slaughtered for their paws and gall bladders.

The legally-enforced practice of ‘Pound Seizure’ requires and allows animal shelters in the majority of U.S. states to sell their unclaimed pets to animal testing laboratories. These former pets undergo medical research and are used to test consumer products. Let’s create a federal ban of pound seizure in order to end this needless cruelty which diminishes the quality and reputation animal shelters across the nation.

Many organizations have emerged offering humane certification for food products derived from animals. Although this is a small victory for animals, both farmers and consumers are confused about the different standards each group requires for certification. Tell the USDA to endorse the organization with the most rigorous standards for humane certification: Animal Welfare Approved.

Raccoon dogs are raised in horrible conditions in China and then beaten and skinned alive for their fur. The recent discovery that products labeled as ‘Australian made’ and ‘Ugg’ were in fact made of raccoon dog fur exposed an inhumane lapse in the trade policies of Australia. Tell Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ban the importation of raccoon dog fur, the product of animal abuse and torture.

Alligator farming is big business in Louisiana. Some of the common means of slaughtering alligators include clubbing them in the head with hammers and bats, using axes to cut their spinal cords to immobilize them and shooting them repeatedly with bang sticks. In many cases, alligators are skinned while they are fully conscious. To think that this type of practice is occurring within the borders of the United States is shameful and abhorrent.

A proposed puppy farm in the UK would raise beagles for live animal testing. Horrific torture like having substances dripped in their eyes, force fed agrochemicals and being put in harnesses while having chemicals pumped into their bloodstreams are some of the tortures that could await these dogs. Stand up for these innocent animals and demand this puppy mill be blocked.

400 greyhounds are slaughtered every year at the Macau race track in China after being forced to compete 4 times a week for their entire lives. In the absence of animal welfare legislation to protect these dogs in China, it is necessary for Australia to ban greyhound exports and stop fueling the brutal dog racing industry in Macau.

Israel recently became the 10th nation to ban the painful and barbaric procedure of declawing cats. Tell US lawmakers to take a stand for animal welfare and ban this inhumane practice that is performed on 25% of cats in the United States.

A guard at a critical tiger sanctuary for Bengal tigers in India killed an adult female because he believed that her whiskers would give him sexual prowess. Tragedies like this cannot be allowed to occur against a tiger population that now hovers around 1700 animals. Strict punishment for the guard is necessary and all future employees should be checked to make sure they are committed to the animals they are protecting.

Although cockfighting technically became illegal in Louisiana in 2008, penalties are so weak that there has been little deterrent to this cruel animal bloodsport. Tell Louisiana that cockfighting is not a part of their ‘culture’ and that real penalties for those involved with cockfighting are needed to protect these innocent animals.

BillDaniel Dockery, a recovering heroin addict, brought the kitten that had helped him stay sober in to the Humane Society for standard medical attention for non-life threatening wounds. The Humane Society refused his offer to pay with a credit card and his request for 24 hours to come up with cash. A few hours later, Scruffy the kitten was euthanized. Demand that the Humane Society review its payment policies and issue an apology for this tragic lack of compassion.

Undercover video of a Butterball turkey farm has exposed violent and cruel treatment of these animals. Disturbing images show employees dragging birds by their necks, wings, or legs and even throwing them into the sides of trucks. This abuse cannot be tolerated and criminal prosecutions must be brought.

Calves used for veal production on many factory farms spend their short, solitary lives confined to small wooden crates where they are fed diets lacking key nutrients. These young animals suffer severe physical and psychological trauma as a result of this confinement but the U.S. Government has yet to take a stand to improve their living conditions.

Tail docking is a procedure by which up to two thirds of a cow’s tail is removed either with a sharp instrument or by using a tight rubber ring to cut off the blood supply. This procedure, intended to improve sanitary conditions for the cattle and farm workers, causes pain and psychological trauma for the cattle and has proven to provide little or no actual sanitary benefits.

The U.S. government is planning to castrate hundreds of wild horses in Nevada in a misguided attempt at population control. The government claims that wild horses are destroying public lands, but it is clear they are instead acting on behalf of the livestock industry, which wants the land for cattle and sheep. Castration of wild stallions is untested as a population control mechanism and a cruel act against these animals. The government cannot be allowed to continue with these plans.

The so-called ‘Ag Gag’ bill is back. Florida legislators want to make it a crime to take photos or videos at farms, silencing the activists and whistleblowers who make it their mission to expose animal cruelty. Tell the Florida Senate to take a stand against Big Agriculture and vote down this bill.

(CLOSED) The law have been declared unconstitutional by The High Court of Cassation of Romania. They already use other ways to kill the strays and in soem towns this is an ongoing action, but we won't give up either. And if you really want to help the Romanian strays, we will open another petition in the name and benefit of a Romanian animal refuge where two people try hard to keep alive approx. 400 dogs and 100 cats with almost no funds. Please, help there too. Stay tuned. Thank you very much for your support and kindness. God bless us all!

(CLOSED) Thanks to all the protests, appeals and your signature, the government of Sri Lanka has decided NOT to go ahead with the plans to kill stray dogs and has instead chosen to implement public awareness programs and to continue the national sterilization program. This is very good news. Euthanasia is not the solution. It deals with only the symptoms and not the cause of population problems. It will NOT lead to population management and must -not- be relied upon as a sole response. Animal Welfare groups will continue to work on sterilization, vaccination and education to humanely and effectively reduce the (stray) dog population and eradicate rabies from Sri Lanka. We hope the government of Sri Lanka will join forces with all the international and local groups and work together with them to reach this goal. Thank you all for speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves.